The research performed under this award will include performance evaluation and design for communication networks of the future, particularly large, high-speed optical networks. The main topics are 1) improved bounds and approximations for circuit-switched networks, 2) dynamic local routing strategies, 3) massively parallel switching algorithms, 4) optical interconnection patterns, and 5) computation with unreliable components. The approach includes modeling, analysis, and design. The models will be based on current and anticipated future technology and will cover the spectrum of networks from circuit-switched to datagram packet networks. Analysis will consist of a mixture of exact probabilistic methods and simulation. Design will be motivated by modeling and analysis and aided by optimization tools of both combinatorial and nonlinear iterative types. Inequalities from information theory, mathematical physics, decision theory, and combinatorics will be applied to yield new performance bounds, providing a bridge between design and performance evaluation.
